At the hidden North Carolina site, Joe Hunter, Jared Rington, and Walter subject Wyatt Carling to a staged interrogation designed to make him believe torture is imminent. They soak Carling, leave him shivering in a cold underground cell, then drag him into an interrogation room and strap him into an old wooden chair. Walter reinforces the deception by displaying a folder of brutal-looking instruments while Jason Mercer watches silently.

Walter slowly heightens Carling’s fear by calmly selecting pliers and inspecting him as if deciding where to begin. Joe Hunter is disturbed by the apparent cruelty, but endures it because he knows Walter is putting on an act. Before any physical harm occurs, Walter abruptly declares that Carling is not yet ready to bargain and orders Hunter and Rink to take him back, only for Carling to collapse at Walter’s feet in panic.

Once Carling is broken enough to listen, Walter forces him to look at the men around him and introduces Joe Hunter, Jared Rington, and Jason Mercer by name. Carling claims he does not recognize them and does not know why he has been abducted. Walter says he believes that Carling may not know them directly because men like Carling insulate themselves from the people harmed by the operations they fund.

Walter then explains the real reason for the interrogation: Carling has been financing the network trying to kill them. He cites Henry Lauder, a councilman who opposed Carling’s expansion plans, and says Carling paid intermediaries to make Lauder disappear. Walter identifies those intermediaries as Arrowsake, describing them as a group that mixes political murder, corporate sabotage, and money laundering through charitable fronts.

Walter argues that Carling is now trapped by his own crime. Because Arrowsake can expose his role in Lauder’s murder, Carling keeps sending money, some of which is diverted to violent operations, including the campaign against Hunter, Rink, and Mercer and the recent killing of someone dear to them. Mercer nearly attacks Carling for that role, making the threat feel real, but Walter stops him and offers Carling a way out.

Walter tells Carling that he will not be harmed if he helps them stop Arrowsake. Terrified, Carling agrees to do anything, though he worries that helping them will incriminate him. Walter insists Arrowsake will be too busy protecting themselves to destroy him, and the chapter ends with Carling effectively broken and ready to cooperate.